How the Rittenhouse and Arbery verdicts failed us

High-profile trials do not give people the justice they deserve

MEGAN VALADEZ / ASST. OPINION EDITOR / THE USD VISTA

On Friday, Nov. 19, I was sitting in the second row of my criminology class, waiting for class to begin, when I got a notification on my phone from CNN revealing that the verdicts were about to be read in the Kyle Rittenhouse case. Everyone else in my class got the same notification, including my professor. We all listened as the jury read “We, the jury, find the defendant, Kyle H. Rittenhouse, not guilty” five different times. 

Being in a sociology class where every day we discuss how unjust the criminal justice system is and how it favors White people, we really were not surprised with the verdict. 

This past week, we received the verdicts of two high-profile cases. The first was in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse for the Aug. 25, 2020 killings of two people in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The second was that of Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael, and William Bryan for the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery.

A single trial, though, is not a referendum on social justice, and looking to criminal convictions to solve our problems only further entrenches them. But, despite the outcomes – an acquittal for Rittenhouse and convictions for Mr. Bryan and the McMichaels – no verdict can resolve the systemic issues in the criminal justice system. 

Convictions in high-profile cases, like that of Kyle Rittenhouse, are not paths to justice in my book. It does not matter that Rittenhouse was a 17-year-old who shot and killed two people with a military caliber weapon and then fled the scene. Rittenhouse having a gun while underage does not matter when he is pleading self-defense. What matters in these cases is the fact that the jury is tasked with applying a specific set of laws to a specific set of facts. 

In this case, Rittenhouse’s defense used Wisconsin’s self-defense law to his benefit. This law allows a person to use deadly force if he or she “reasonably believes” it is necessary to prevent “imminent death or great bodily harm.” 

I, and most people, thought that Rittenhouse would at least be found guilty of weapons possession, because he was a 17-year-old with a rifle, who also crossed state lines. According to Wisconsin law, minors are not allowed to carry guns, but one subsection could be interpreted to exempt long rifles from this law. It was known that Rittenhouse had an AR-15, which is a long barrelled, semi-automatic, military-style weapon, and the judge dismissed the charge. 

The story that an officer told while testifying is most interesting. He stated that  Rittenhouse approached his car with a weapon on his chest and his hands up in surrender, but the officers ordered him to move out of the way because they were in search of the shooter.

The shooter was standing right in front of him, with a weapon, yet it did not register in their minds that a young, white teenager could be the one to kill multiple people. Of course, police believed it had to be someone in the crowd of protestors or “looters” because that is usually who our society chooses to hyperfocus on when looking at violence.

I think it is also important to talk about the fact that people who are on trial in high-profile cases have the money and resources to have very powerful defense attorneys, which most people do not have the luxury of having, especially  people of color. Kyle Rittenhouse even posed for pictures with the judge, Bruce Schroeder, unhandcuffed in the courtroom. That would never be the case for any person of color. 

Using these trials to repair social damage is not possible at all. Our criminal justice system was built on slave codes that still serve to reinforce racial hierarchies. As Americans, we are told that punishment will solve all problems, but it does not. Even though I was relieved to know that the McMichaels and Mr. Bryan will be going to prison for killing Ahmaud Arbery, that does not mean that the murders of innocent black people will stop. 

Just because Derek Chauvin will rot in prison for killing George Floyd does not mean that police brutality will just magically go away. 

Injustice is much deeper than just police abuse. There are endless other injustices in our society, such as voting restrictions, homelessness, public housing, food scarcity, and so much more. It is clear that wins for the prosecution in the Arbery case or the Floyd case do not address any of the real problems or racist ideals that exist in today’s legal system. 

Our legal system needs abolition. In order to create change, we need to build an entirely new system that is not built on the racist ideas of old white men. 

Abolition seems pretty impossible, especially considering how many brainwashed racists still exist in our society today. But, I think a solid step in the right direction includes equality for all – which in this case, means equal representation for all. People should not be found not guilty for murdering two people just because they have the money for a good defense attorney. 

In the same  criminology class I mentioned earlier, we learned about what goes on inside the Cook County Courthouse in Chicago, Illinois, where we see a double system of justice – one for people of color and the poor, and one for the wealthy whites. 

There are visual terms of racial segregation in this courthouse, like a parking structure for lawyers, judges, jurors, and cops, and limited, metered parking for the poor people of color. 

This one example shows the way racism pervades the criminal justice system. Most of these low-income people of color spend their entire day at the courthouse just for a judge to make a decision about their case within minutes. Most people do not even have representation, and if they do, they meet their public defenders minutes before entering the courtroom. 

This makes me think about the structures that must be dismantled or changed in order to create the change we want. Guilty verdicts in high-profile cases are a step in the right direction, but are not enough whatsoever. We must address all of the problems our criminal justice and legal systems face each day in the courthouse and out on the streets. Maybe then low-income people of color will be afforded the same dignity in which was given to Kyle Rittenhouse.